Frustrations rise over G Street patios
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Woodstock’s Pizza is the first in line to lease space in front of their business on G Street. It’s been working with the city of Davis since the street’s fencing came down in January.
Laura Ambrose, co-owner of the pizza chain, said, “We know that Red 88 is also working on an application, but from what we were told (by the city) last week, we are the farthest along, and also the ‘guinea pigs,’” of the city’s new outdoor dining ordinance.
On Wednesday morning, I asked the city to provide a list of Davis businesses that have pulled and/or submitted applications to lease portions of the G Street platforms in front of their businesses. Public Information Officer Barbara Archer said Economic Development Director Katie Yancey could not get me that information by the end of the day but would contact me “as soon as we have news on this topic.”
Woodstock’s, at 238 G St., sent the city an application on Jan. 21, along with 25 required pieces of information … (and) the $1,500 payment required,” Ambrose said. “Our hope was that we could get permission to move onto the space immediately.”
The city responded three weeks later, with 32 requests. Ambrose, who said she’s logged more than 40 hours of work to deal with the application, said they are trying to avoid hiring an architect or contractor “because all we want to do is lease the already-built platform in front of our business. It doesn’t seem like it should be this difficult and this costly.”
When the street reopened in January after the platforms were complete, a city news release said, “Businesses that front G Street will be able to annually rent space on the platforms to have exclusive outdoor dining as an extension of their businesses through the Downtown Outdoor Dining Program. Businesses that rent platform space will be able to utilize their own furnishings, including group seating, heaters, planters, umbrellas, swamp coolers and more, pursuant to the City’s furnishing requirements and design standards.” For a consistent look, furniture colors are among the items considered.
It’s those design standards that are causing delays, Ambrose said. The city requested “detailed specifications on every piece of furniture, including how we think it meets their ten pages of design standards, exact measurements, proof that it is commercial grade, fireproof, ADA-compliant, etc. I gave them preliminary information and they said it wasn’t detailed enough, so I put together every piece of information they requested for every piece of furniture and it was 34 pages long. Then they said that was too long and they wanted it reformatted in a totally different format. So, three different attempts just to get the furniture detail to their liking.”
Ambrose added, “I can honestly say that all of the people in the city offices have been kind, and even apologetic for the lengthy process. They state that they really do want to encourage these outdoor spaces. I believe them, but I also know that we have outdoor dining in all of our other restaurants, and no city has had this difficult of a process, even when we’re using city sidewalks and public areas.”
The project cost $1 million, using American Rescue Plan Act funds. It included construction of platforms on each side of the street, lighting, and some furniture for the public spaces.